by Holly Rayner
“When my father died, the company fell into Darius' hands. We all expected that. Darius was always my father’s puppet. We used to call him Pinocchio and tell him my father might turn him into a real boy if he licked enough boot. I couldn’t stand to watch him sucking up to government officials, going out of his way to try to make everyone happy. He looked like the village idiot. I thought he was embarrassing himself and our family. As far as I was concerned, he had to go, so I came up with a plan.
“I talked Peter into spreading false rumors against Darius. Embezzlement, incompetence, and the like. Peter thought he was doing it to put himself in charge of the company, but as soon as scandal swept Darius out of the way, I stepped in. I let my younger brother know that if he opposed me, I would expose what I knew about his illicit activities. He was furious, but there was nothing he could do about it without implicating himself.”
“Hang on a second,” Kally interjected. You honestly want me to tell the reading public that you acquired your father’s company fraudulently?” The horrors of Alexandros’ childhood had been severe enough to push the Republic, Beth Matthews, and Don Lewis Jr. from her mind momentarily, but this naked admission of underhanded tactics had brought her anger rushing back.
“This memoir is my confession, Ms. Jones, and I intend to hide nothing unless I am legally required to. I am not the same person that defrauded my brothers, and it is my hope that your work will reflect that.”
“I’m sure it will,” Kally replied evenly, though her thoughts were much darker.
She continued to take notes while Alexandros gave her an overview of his career. He told her how he expanded the company, trained and hiring the most talented of his countrymen, before establishing a presence in America. His was only the third Greek oil company to do so. He told her how he founded the holdings company to sell plastics and other petroleum-based products, before he eventually acquired the Drexel Broadcasting System and evolved it into Drexel Omnimedia. And then, without warning, his face clouded over, and he bowed his head until it looked like it weighed a ton.
“Is there a problem, Mr. Stratos?” Kally asked gently.
“I’m afraid so. I’ve arrived at the worst mistake I ever made.”
Kally could almost see Don Lewis’ ears perking up. This was the moment she had come for, the piece of information that would allow her to exact her revenge. She struggled to force down the pity, sadness, and horror that her enemy’s childhood had invoked. She had to focus and pay attention. After all, she told herself, she was a double agent now.
“It was just over six years ago. I had instructed my team to look for new investments outside of Europe. I had them combing through opportunities in India, the Middle East, South Korea, and Africa. The idea was to diversify my activities, and move a large chunk of my assets away from oil and oil-based products. They returned to me with a prospectus that outlined the financial advantages of investing in diamond mines in West Africa. Demand was up and supply was low. Startup prices were remarkably inexpensive. The venture seemed solid, and a great way to further decouple my assets from petroleum. I gave them my permission to proceed, something I’m going to regret to the day I die.
“On my behalf, the team invested in four mines. They conducted surveys, but I was never acquainted with the details of the horrors that were committed in order to gain control of the mines. I eventually learned that I was selling diamonds that had come at the cost of children’s limbs, and often their lives, but even then, I made no restitution. I simply sold my shares and got out. I made a considerable profit, and I moved on with my life.”
He shook his head slowly. “I don’t sleep,” he said simply, glancing briefly at the photograph on his desk. “After certain crimes, no amount of money will allow you to sleep.”
“That’s truly a horrible admission,” Kally replied, after a long pause, unable to filter or soften her response. Not even she had a ready-made answer for “I profited from the deaths of thousands”. She looked up from her notes, at Stratos. “I believe it will take much more than a confession to atone for something like that,” she said, wondering, a beat too late, what Alexandros’ reaction would be.
“There shall be a great deal more,” he answered her, nodding gravely, but I suggest we go over that when we next meet, Ms. Jones.” It was quite clear that he meant to bring their meeting to a close.
Looking at him, Kally didn’t think that Alexandros could bear to talk about his past much longer.
She put away her tablet, and said her goodbyes, watching Alexandros struggle to master his emotions as she did so. The last thing she saw, as she left the office, was a man being slowly crushed by a weight she could not see.
SIX
Back inside the elevator car, Kally allowed herself to consider for the first time, how little she had known about Stratos. The Republic’s demise had been like a slow motion crash, but that hadn’t lessened the shock of what happened. Kally had latched onto Alexandros at once, because it felt good to have a clear enemy to blame. She had condemned him for so long as a heartless monster, but only now did she realize that the Republic’s demise was all she knew about him. Now that she had heard his story, she didn’t know how to feel.
Stratos had suffered through a childhood she wouldn’t wish on her worst enemy, and she couldn’t ignore the sadness that welled up in her whenever she thought of it. He had saved a man's life, created opportunities for his countrymen, created thousands of jobs, and built a legacy. But he was also the man who swindled and extorted his own family, and profited from death and human misery. Her feelings were all over the place, reeling between anger, sadness, sympathy, and rage.
And attraction. She kept suppressing this last, and cursing whatever hormones kept bringing it to the surface. At the end of the day, this was still the man who dealt a deathblow to life as she had known it. She still personally knew people that were only separated from homelessness by a few hundred dollars and the grace of God. She could not, would not, allow herself to consider becoming entangled with the person responsible for their misery.
“You have a nice day, miss,” one of the guards called out as she exited the elevator and headed outside.
Kally was too preoccupied with her thoughts to reply, and the other security guard shook his head. “One of these days, you’re gonna get us both fired,” he told his partner.
Kally was approaching a food truck with a vague idea of getting something to eat, when her phone rang, shattering her reverie.
A bolt of something like fear shot up her spine. That would be Don, and she had yet to work out what she wanted to do. Last night she had been so sure that Alexandros was the devil, and that it was her duty to bring him to justice. Now she wasn’t certain. If she told Don what she had heard, would she be destroying the little boy who was anguished by a brutal upbringing? Would she be ridding the world of the charismatic man who was now struggling to right the wrongs he had caused? Or would she be helping to punish the man who grew rich off the dead, and suffered no consequences for it?
The phone rang insistently, and knowing that she needed more time, Kally decided that the best thing she could do would be to stall. She fished her phone out of her purse and looked at the screen. Sure enough, it was Don calling.
“Hello?” she answered, hoping to God her voice was steady. “Kally Jones speaking. How can I help you?”
“Afternoon, ma’am,” came Don’s confident reply. “What’ve ya got for me? Anything good yet?”
“It’s a bit too early to say,” Kally lied with surprising ease. “We only discussed preliminaries today. We’ve formulated an outline for the remaining interviews, and we’re delving into his early business career the meeting after next. I expect that’s when I’ll have what you’re looking for, but if I find anything earlier, I’ll let you know.”
Don seemed satisfied with that answer, and hung up seconds after, leaving Kally to her own devices.
She ordered a half smoke, and started for the subway when she n
oticed someone watching her from a few feet away. He was young, wearing black jeans and an oversized graphic tee shirt. Whoever he was, he was clearly trying to blend in. When he noticed her watching, he turned away, and when Kally looked again, he was gone. She was almost completely certain he’d been watching her. Someone, she was sure, was having her followed.
But why? she thought, dashing for the subway and looking over her shoulder every other second. Was Alexandros on to her? Was he trying to make sure she didn’t start divulging secrets to the highest bidder the second he started talking? Or was it Don, eager to make sure she kept to the agreement, and didn’t go offering to sell her information to any of Stratos’ other business rivals, for a higher price? Whoever was doing it, it made her uncomfortable, and even though it wasn’t even three o’clock, she was eager to get back to the confines of her apartment.
“I’m Kally Jones, not Mata Hari,” she breathed, spotting the subway.
Just as she reached the stairwell, Kally's phone rang. “What is it now?” she groaned, expecting another long talk with Layla. When she answered it, however, she was surprised to discover it was Beth Matthews on the line.
“Beth! How have you been?” Kally asked brightly. There was genuine joy and affection in her voice; she hadn’t heard from her friend in nearly three weeks. With her little boy to look after, Beth hadn't been able to afford to stubbornly stick to searching for journalism jobs as Kally had when things went south at the Republic. Within a few weeks, she had found a job working part-time at a fast fashion outlet for next to no money. She’d still been working there when Kally had left for New York.
“To be honest, Kal, I’ve been better, but things are slowly starting to look up around here,” Beth answered, making an obvious effort to sound optimistic. “I just saw your new book is out. Congratulations, girl. Whenever you get back here, I want you to sign my copy.”
“That’s a promise,” Kally replied, trying to match her tone. “I take it you got the temp job, then? How are Walt and the kid doing?”
“Both fine. They’re at home looking after each other right now,” she laughed. “In the meantime, I’m playing the role of 'office assistant with severely reduced pay.' That’s where I’m calling you from.”
“Well, I’m glad you’ve got something, and you’re going to bounce back, Beth, I'm sure of it. No one got though a news day without coffee like you. I’m working on something here, and it looks like it’s gonna be big. Big enough to help out the entire old guard.”
“That’d be nice. Oh yeah, speaking of which, that asshole, Alexandros Stratos, was on TV the other day. Some bull about a charity he’s setting up. I think he’s calling it the “Give Stratos a Big-Ass Tax Break Foundation”, or something like that. I guess someone has to look after all those poor, needy, lobbyists.”
Kally gave her friend the laugh she was expecting, but she didn’t feel the least bit mirthful anymore. She could hear the bitterness in her friend’s voice mixing with the sounds of the office she was working in. What would Beth say if she knew her best friend had just let the man she hated off the hook for a few more days? And in the end, when it came down to it, would she even be able to betray Alexandros’ trust, or was she going to turn her back on her best friend in the world?
“He’ll get what’s coming to him eventually,” Kally said hollowly. “He keeps pushing people, and someone’s gonna push back soon. People are already starting to take a closer look at him, and not even he can bribe everyone.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right, Kal. Anyways, It was nice talking to you, but the boss is doing that thing where she circles around like a vulture. I wanna keep working here, so I better talk to you later. Peace!” And then the line went silent.
If there was anything Kally needed other than money, it was peace, but she was certain she wouldn’t be getting any for a very long time. What she was getting was tangled up in the most bizarre situation she could possibly imagine. If someone had told her, way back in June, that she’d be struggling to decide which incredibly wealthy personality she wanted to work for, she’d have accused that person of being unreasonably optimistic, using too many drugs, or both. But that was, in fact, what she was doing at that very moment. That and looking over her shoulders. The feeling that she was being watched became so strong that Kally had a crick in her neck from checking by the time she got home.
The rest of the afternoon was given over to distractions from anything at all to do with memoirs and secrets. Kally tried to finish her book, do a little cooking, and power stream her favorite sitcoms. She went digging through her old files, made some popcorn for a TV movie, finished two Sudoku puzzles, and even attempted to clean the house. By the time she went to bed, however, her mind was still consumed with a horrible image: three children clawing at each other to survive.
She slept horribly that night, constantly woken by one of her conflicting emotions. She had muddled dreams: sometimes she was back at the Republic. Other times she was working in an office for minimum wage. Once or twice she had been drowning in the dark waters of the Aegean Sea.
Finally, at three in the morning, Kally had to admit defeat. She marched straight to her medicine cabinet and swallowed a sleep aid. In a few moments, she finally felt true drowsiness descending upon her.
SEVEN
Kally woke in a stupor the next morning, a headache throbbing through her head like a marching band. The whole world seemed to be wrapped in a thick fog that did not want to be cleared away. She pushed herself up, but fell right down onto the pillow again. It was cradling her, calling her back to sleep. A jet of cold air shot across her feet, which were poking out of the blankets, and she instinctively tried to pull them back into the warmth. A voice in her head admonished her sharply, ordering her to get up, and very reluctantly, Kally complied.
“Son of a bitch,” she grunted when she rolled herself out of bed, and nearly fell straight to the floor. “Bodes well for the rest of the morning,” she grumbled, forcing her aching frame into the bathroom where her shower awaited. An hour or so later, Kally was dressed, fed, and once again making her way towards the subway.
As she headed down to the platform, she passed a wizened old man with salt-and-pepper hair and eyes that radiated a quiet dignity. His suit was ancient, but well kept. An open trumpet case sat in front of him, spangled with ones. He held the trumpet to his lips and began to play a popular movie score. Absentmindedly, Kally turned back, and tossed a dollar into the case. As she did so, she caught sight of someone disappearing among the waiting patrons. Anxiety spread through her. She was sure it was the man she had seen yesterday. She struggled with indecision for a moment or two before charging into the crowd after her stalker.
“I’m going to put an end to this right now!” Kally breathed harshly.
She had just spotted him again, wearing a plain black suit this time, when she was startled by the ringing of her phone. She wanted to collar him and solve the riddle of which of her employers was violating her privacy, but she was arrested by the idea that answering her phone might prove a faster, safer solution.
“Good morning, Ms. Jones, this is Alexandros Stratos. My apologies for the inconvenience, but there's been a slight change of plan; I think it might be more prudent to have the meeting at my house today. I’ll text you the address, but I doubt the trains will get you near it, so I suggest you take a cab. I’ll cover the fare when you arrive.”
Why is he moving the meeting? Kally didn't like the first idea that occurred to her. She thought back to The Three Rivers, and how Alexandros had subtly attempted to turn that meeting into a dinner date. She had not come to New York, she told herself, to start a mini flirtation with one of her clients, least of all with Alexandros Stratos.
“Well, it’s short notice, Mr. Stratos,” she replied, keeping her voice even, “but if you think it will help the project, I’ll be right over.” Kally stressed the phrase “help the project”; she wanted Alexandros under no illusions about why she was coming.
<
br /> “Yes, I must apologize for changing the venue without warning,” he answered, sounding preoccupied, “but I can assure that it’s in everyone’s best interests.”
Something about the way he said that made Kally think of the sinister apparition that had been following her. She hung up with Alexandros, dashed back out of the subway station, and hailed a cab, wondering vaguely about when her life was going to start making sense again.
The ride gave Kally twenty minutes to think about Alexandros' motivation for moving the meeting, and whether she could just come out and ask him if he’d ordered someone to follow her. She was so deep in thought that when they arrived, the driver had to yell to get her attention.
“Hey, lady! We’re here,” he stated roughly. “Last thing I need is people falling asleep back there.”